Enough Said (2013)

Enough Said Synopsis

A divorced and single parent, Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter's impending departure for college. She meets Albert (James Gandolfini) - a sweet, funny and like-minded man also facing an empty nest. As their romance quickly blossoms, Eva befriends Marianne (Catherine Keener), her new massage client. Marianne is a beautiful poet who seems "almost perfect" except for one prominent quality: she rags on her ex-husband way too much. Suddenly, Eva finds herself doubting her own relationship with Albert as she learns the truth about Marianne's Ex. Enough Said is a sharp, insightful comedy that humorously explores the mess that often comes with getting involved again.

SAG isn’t always right. Last year, the group accurately predicted that Ben Affleck’s Argo would have a big night at the Oscars. But the year prior, SAG went with The Help over the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner, The Artist.

It was a record breaking weekend for the month of October as Gravity hauled in an impressive $55 million opening, topping Paranormal Activity's $52 million debut in 2011. The movie also marks the biggest opening for either George Clooney or Sandra Bullock and is a big score for under-recognized director and co-writer Alfonso Cuaron who has finally received both critical and financial acclaim for something other than what was arguably the best of the Harry Potter films.

This week we're tearing down the idea of "white people problems"-- or at the very least embracing them-- as we're joined by Film School Rejects' Kate Erbland to review Enough Said, the new film from director Nicole Holofcener. It's the first lead film role Julia Louis-Dreyfus has played since the 90s, and sadly one of the last from James Gandolfini, who died in June. Does it live up to other Holofcener films like Walking & Talking and Please Give?

Nicole Holofcener is known for her refreshingly uncomplicated movies about relationships between relatively normal, relatively grown-up people-- in a time when so many rom-coms need to gin up the most ridiculous excuses for story, Holofcener will put her characters in one place, wind them up, and watch what happens. But in her next film Enough Said, things seem to be getting a bit trickier

Far from playing the heavy here, Gandolfini is the love interest of Enough Said. Dreyfuss plays the romantic comedy’s flustered protagonist Eva, a NYC divorcee whose coping with with empty nest after her kid goes off to college. She finds solace in an inspirational new friend Marianne (Catherine Keener) and then romance with a truly terrific guy named Albert (Gandolfini) with whom she shares a promising connection.

Collette's description of Gandolfini's character in the film seems a real change up pace from the glaring tough guys roles he was known for. But it also sounds like it might be the closest a film role has come to capturing the captivating man who has made us root for bad guys for decades.